Agriculture

Lord Boateng: To Ask Her Majesty's Government what action they have taken to promote agricultural research in low-income countries to improve crop yields.

Baroness Verma: The Department for International Development has a comprehensive programme of research aimed at sustainably increasing agricultural productivity, and reducing hunger, poverty and malnutrition in low-income countries. We support:
	advanced scientific research of high developmental relevance, commissioned through open competitions in collaboration with the UK Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council;international research centres of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), which produce international public goods, technology, new crop varieties and improved natural resource management solutions aimed at poor farmers, predominantly in Africa and South Asia;sub-regional agricultural research networks in Africa, to consolidate research efforts of their national members on common themes and priorities, in line with national and regional agricultural development programmes such as the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Plan (CAADP); and research on changing the farming practices of poor women and men who can most benefit from new research findings. This capitalises on the achievements of the department's current and past investment in research in sustainable agriculture by accelerating research uptake in low-income African countries.

Azerbaijan

Lord Hylton: To Ask Her Majesty's Government whether the re-transmission of foreign broadcasts on national FM frequencies, which was stopped by the government of Azerbaijan on 1 January 2009, has recommenced; and, if not, whether they expect the re-transmissions to recommence in the future following the representations made by a range of multi-national organisations.

Lord Howell of Guildford: Foreign radio retransmissions on Azerbaijani FM frequencies have not yet resumed. However, all the stations banned on FM continue to broadcast in Azerbaijan on short wave radio and via the internet. This remains a concern for us.
	There is no indication that the Government of Azerbaijan will change their position soon. We and partners from the EU, Council of Europe and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation continue to engage Azerbaijan on improving media freedom, and we fund a number of local projects in support of media freedom.

Bailiffs

Lord Corbett of Castle Vale: To Ask Her Majesty's Government on how many occasions in each year from 2005 to 2009 bailiffs were used to collect unpaid court fines in England and Wales; and what was the cost in each year to public funds.

Lord McNally: HMCS issues distress warrants to private bailiff companies as a method of collecting unpaid fines in England and Wales. This collection is carried out under contract to HMCS, which provides that the costs of execution are paid by the defaulters. Therefore there is no cost to public funds for this method of enforcement.
	
		
			 Year Distress Warrants Issued to Private Bailiffs 
			 2006-07 727,883 
			 2007-08 617,953 
			 2008-09 404,198 
			 2009-10 593,637

Banking

Lord Laird: To Ask Her Majesty's Government what directions they have given to those banks in which the taxpayers have a holding concerning the provision of mortgages of 90 per cent or more to first time buyers.

Lord Sassoon: In February 2009, Lloyds Banking Group plc (LBG) and the Royal Bank of Scotland plc (RBS) entered into two-year legally binding lending commitments.
	In year two of the lending commitments, LBG and RBS have agreed to £3 billion and £8 billion respectively to households, on commercial terms and subject to market demand. These commitments include ensuring that mortgages across the loan to value (LTV) bands and up to at least 90 per cent LTV are made available to first-time buyers.
	The Government will continue to work with the Financial Services Authority, mortgage lenders and consumer groups to ensure a mortgage market that is sustainable for all participants.

Banking: Bonuses

Lord Myners: To Ask Her Majesty's Government what they have done to ensure that arrangements for bonus clawback work as they and the Financial Services Authority envisage; and whether the amounts clawed back will be published by the Financial Services Authority or whether individual banks will be required to publish this information.

Lord Sassoon: The Government have asked the Financial Services Authority (FSA), as part of its review of the remuneration code, to examine mechanisms for strengthening the link between performance and remuneration to ensure that incentives are aligned with the long-term performance of the firm, including clawback arrangements.
	The FSA has consulted on the revision of its remuneration code and its consultation proposes that firms consider applying ex-post risk adjustment in the following situations, where:
	there is evidence of employee misbehaviour or material error;the firm and/or the business unit subsequently suffers a material downturn in its financial performance;the firm and/or the business unit in which the employee works suffers a material failure of risk management.
	The FSA will publish its response to the consultation in mid-November, with the revised FSA handbook rules coming into effect on 1 January 2011.
	Further details on the revision of the remuneration code and the FSA's consultation can be found at: http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pages/Library/Policy/CP/2010/10_19.shtml

Banking: Iceland

Lord Laird: To Ask Her Majesty's Government how much financial support they have paid to retail depositors in Icelandic banks to date; how much of that has been retrieved; and what is the estimate of the amount that will not now be retrieved.

Lord Sassoon: Details of the financial support provided to retail depositors in Icelandic banks and repayments received for the 2009-10 financial year are set out in the Treasury's resource accounts for 2009-10 (HC261).
	Total gross support in respect of Heritable Bank, Kaupthing Singer and Friedlander (KSF) and Landsbanki amounted to just under £7.76 billion as at 31 March 2010. This £7.76 billion comprises £6.68 billion of loans to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) to cover depositors' claims up to £50,000 and £1.08 billion to cover depositors' claims above the £50,000 cap (HM Treasury top-up payments). The £6.68 billion loans to the FSCS includes around £2.3 billion of compensation that the UK Government paid out, via the FSCS, to depositors on behalf of the Icelandic Depositors' and Investors' Guarantee Fund (DIGF).
	HM Treasury expects to retrieve the full balance of the loans advanced to the FSCS. With regard to the £2.3 billion paid out on behalf of the DIGF, discussions to agree repayment terms are ongoing between the UK and Iceland. Retrieval of HM Treasury top-up payments made in respect of Heritable Bank, KSF and Landsbanki will depend upon recoveries from the respective administration processes. Forecast rates of recovery are published by Ernst and Young, the administrator appointed for Heritable and KSF, and by the winding up board for Landsbanki.

Banks: Lending

Lord Myners: To Ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the reply by Lord Sassoon on 28 July (Official Report, col. 1289-92), whether they provide guidance to the Bank of England regarding the asset purchase facility (APF); and whether they have the power to instruct the Bank of England to limit any further use of the APF in support of quantitative easing to the purchase of securities issued by or in support of private sector companies and the provision of new residential mortgages.

Lord Sassoon: The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England has independent operational responsibility for monetary policy. The MPC decides on the use of measures, including the asset purchase facility (APF), in order to target 2 per cent inflation, as measured by the 12-month change in the consumer prices index (CPI). The MPC's independence is critical for maintaining credibility in the UK's monetary policy framework.
	The previous Government and the Governor of the Bank of England established the framework for the APF policy. This was set out in an exchange of letters between the governor and the then Chancellor of the Exchequer which were dated 17 February and 3 March 2009. The framework requires the Chancellor to authorise the overall limit on asset purchases. Open letters exchanged between the Chancellor and the governor agreeing the limit for APF purchases can be found on the Bank of England's website.
	In his letter of 3 March 2009 to the governor, the then Chancellor stated that,
	"to the extent that the committee chooses to purchase private sector assets, the choice of assets should be delegated to the Bank executive. In making that judgement, the Bank executive should be guided by an assessment of which transactions would be most likely to restore the flow of finance to corporate borrowers, as well as contributing to the committee's wider monetary policy objectives".

Banks: Lending

Lord Myners: To Ask Her Majesty's Government , further to the reply by Lord Sassoon on 28 July (Official Report, col. 1289-92), what assessment they have made of the decline in the M4 monetary measure and its impact on the availability of credit; and what plans, if any, they have to reverse this decline.

Lord Sassoon: The Bank of England's inflation report published in August 2010 makes an assessment of M4 and the availability of credit. The report points out that the growth rates of bank credit remained weak in 2010 Q2 relative to recent averages. These trends reflect in part the severe monetary squeeze precipitated by the financial crisis. Banks have tightened the supply of credit and fewer loans have been advanced, reducing deposit growth.
	However, the Bank of England's preferred measure of broad money, which excludes holdings by intermediate non-bank financial institutions, has recorded positive growth since February 2010.
	The Government have recently published a Green Paper on business finance to help inform and take forward their agenda on credit and other sources of finance for businesses. The Government invited views from businesses, investors and lenders to suggest approaches for enhancing access to appropriate sources of finance and will comment on responses to the Green Paper in due course. Further information about the Green Paper is available here: http://www.bis.gov.uk/businessfinance.

Banks: Lending

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To Ask Her Majesty's Government what is their strategy to encourage banks to increase lending to small businesses.

Baroness Wilcox: The coalition Government have articulated their ambition to ensure the flow of credit to viable SMEs. Our consultation on business finance issues, Financing a private sector recovery, closed on 20 September, and received many responses from a wide range of firms, business representative bodies, individuals and investors. We are currently considering the Government's response which will be given shortly.
	The British Bankers' Association (BBA) has now published the report of the BBA Taskforce which was previously announced in the Green Paper. This report "Supporting UK business" sets out 17 actions across three broad areas to which the taskforce banks have committed. These actions will help to address access to finance issues which support bank lending to small businesses.
	There are various government interventions already in place to support access to finance for small businesses. The Chancellor announced in the Budget:
	a £200 million extension to the enterprise finance guarantee (EFG), to unlock additional lending for up to 2,000 extra small businesses. In total, the EFG will now support up to £700 million in bank lending to viable small businesses between April 2010 and March 2011; a new Enterprise Capital Fund worth up to £37.5 million to provide equity finance to small businesses with the highest growth potential; andconfirmation of a Growth Capital Fund, to provide funding of between £2 million and £10 million for small and medium-sized businesses with strong growth potential.

Bees

Lord Moynihan: To Ask Her Majesty's Government what is the status of the Action Plan launched by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate to facilitate licensing of new honey bee medicines.

Lord Henley: The Veterinary Medicines Directorate's (VMD) Action Plan on the Availability of Medicines for Bees is published on the VMD website (www.vmd.gov.uk). It is an ongoing action plan, agreed with stakeholders, and was last updated in July 2010. The VMD and stakeholders are taking forward all the agreed actions. A meeting to review the action plan is expected to take place in January 2011.

Charities Act 2006

Lord Morris of Manchester: To Ask Her Majesty's Government when the workings of the Charities Act 2006 were last reviewed.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The Charities Act 2006 has not yet been reviewed. Section 73 of the Act requires the appointment of a person to review generally its operation within five years of its receiving Royal Assent.

Coroners' Inquests

Lord Laird: To Ask Her Majesty's Government whether they or coroners in England and Wales publish details of inquests held, names of deceased, date of death, verdicts, and any jury or coroner recommendations, either online or otherwise.

Lord McNally: Details of individual inquests are not published by either the Ministry of Justice or coroners in England and Wales. The Ministry of Justice does not hold such information, but it publishes annually on its website the bulletin statistics on deaths reported to coroners, England and Wales. This includes for the calendar year, both in summary form and by individual coroner's district, the numbers of deaths reported, inquests held, and verdicts returned in each category of verdict. The Ministry of Justice also publishes online a bi-annual summary of coroners' reports under Rule 43 of the Coroners Rules 1984 as amended and the responses, but again the published data do not include names and dates of death. Under Rule 43 coroners may make recommendations to persons or organisations to help prevent future deaths.

Courts Service: Debt Collection

Lord Corbett of Castle Vale: To Ask Her Majesty's Government how many (a) full-time, and (b) part-time, court enforcement officers were employed by HM Court Service in each year from 2005 to 2009 in England and Wales.

Lord McNally: The numbers of civilian enforcement officers employed by HMCS, both full-time and part-time, are outlined in the table below:
	
		
			  Full-time Part-time Total 
			 2005 533 28 561 
			 2006 543 32 575 
			 2007 505 36 541 
			 2008 458 34 492 
			 2009 460 37 497

Courts Service: Digital Records

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To Ask Her Majesty's Government what would be the cost of giving the public direct access to existing official digital records of High Court proceedings.

Lord McNally: The Government have no plans to make the records that exist directly available to the public. Costs of making records available have not, therefore, been assessed.

Courts: Fines

Lord Corbett of Castle Vale: To Ask Her Majesty's Government how many unpaid court fines for which enforcement warrants were issued there were in each year from 2005 to 2009 in England and Wales.

Lord McNally: Her Majesty's Courts Service systems do not automatically collate this information and it has been collected by manual returns from the enforcement offices of each HMCS area. This information is collected in fiscal year format.
	We have the information shown below.
	
		
			 Year Total Warrants Issued Arrest Warrants Issued Distress Warrants Issued 
			 2006-07 1,357,424 727,883 599,968 
			 2007-08 1,282,622 621,653 625,259 
			 2008-09 787,499 379,705 407,794 
			 2009-10 990,375 396,007 594,368 
		
	
	The return for 2008-09 is an estimate of the warrants issued based on the partial data recorded for this year. The actual number issued could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Courts: Fines

Lord Corbett of Castle Vale: To Ask Her Majesty's Government what was the total amount of unpaid court fines in England and Wales in each year from 2005 to 2009.

Baroness Neville-Jones: This is a matter for the Metropolitan Police Service.

Courts: Fines

Lord Corbett of Castle Vale: To Ask Her Majesty's Government what was the annual cost of employing court enforcement officers to ensure compliance with warrants for the non-payment of fines in England and Wales in each year from 2005 to 2009.

Lord McNally: Unfortunately on this occasion the department is unable to provide information in relation to the cost of employing CEOs as, due to the period of time in question, any information which could be provided would be subject to inaccuracy and disproportionate costs.

Cybermoor Ltd

Lord Laird: To Ask Her Majesty's Government how many kilometres of fibre optic cables have been inserted into the ducts laid in the Alston, Cybermoor and Fibremoor projects in Cumbria by Cybermoor Ltd.
	To Ask Her Majesty's Government how many kilometres of fibre optic cables have been independently inspected and placed into service in the Alston, Cybermoor and Fibremoor projects in Cumbria by Cybermoor Ltd; and with what results.
	To Ask Her Majesty's Government what is the speed and IP throughput of all fibre optic cables laid in Cumbria by Cybermoor Ltd that have been provided with the use of public funds.
	To Ask Her Majesty's Government how many customers of Cybermoor Ltd and Cybermoor Services Ltd are receiving a working service of Next Generation Access (NGA) Broadband; and where they are located.

Baroness Wilcox: The Government do not hold this information.

Data Protection

Lord Tebbit: To Ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Baroness Neville-Jones on 17 June (WA 127), what assessment they have made of the impact of data protection legislation on the ability of members of Parliament and the general public to judge whether individual foreign persons convicted of serious crimes are being deported with appropriate despatch.

Baroness Neville-Jones: In order to comply with the terms of the Data Protection Act 1998, which regulates the processing of personal data, the UK Border Agency is limited in the information it can provide when the request for individual case information is made by someone who is not the subject of the case. Other than the exceptional cases, cases of national security or requests from the courts, the UK Border Agency must ensure it has the written authority of the individual concerned before the information is divulged to anyone else.

Deaf Children

Lord Morris of Manchester: To Ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will respond to the National Deaf Children's Society's report Hands up for Help! which calls for deaf children to have fair access to help from specialist teachers of the deaf.

Lord Hill of Oareford: The Government will be publishing a Green Paper on special educational needs and disabilities, which will explore how we can improve support for all children with special educational needs and disabilities, including those with hearing impairments. The Hands up for Help! report is being considered as part of the consultation the department is undertaking to inform the development of the Green Paper.
	The Government share the aspirations the National Deaf Children's Society and parents have for deaf and hearing impaired children. It is a priority to improve the educational outcomes for all children and we recognise the important role specialists, such as teachers of the deaf, play in meeting this goal.

Electoral Commission

Lord Ashcroft: To Ask Her Majesty's Government what was the cost to public funds of the case by the Electoral Commission against the United Kingdom Independence Party.

Lord McNally: The Electoral Commission is wholly independent of government and is accountable to Parliament through the Speaker's Committee of the House of Commons. A member of the Speaker's Committee responds to questions about the operation of the Electoral Commission in the House of Commons. There is no mechanism for answering such questions in the House of Lords.

Energy: Electricity

Lord Skelmersdale: To Ask Her Majesty's Government what public intervention subsidy is given to home generators of electricity by (a) photo voltaic cells, (b) water wheels, and (c) wind generators; and what is the maximum kilowattage allowed to be generated in each case.

Lord Marland: The feed-in tariffs (FITs) scheme provides financial support to incentivise small-scale, low carbon electricity generation, particularly by individuals, householders and others who have not traditionally engaged in the electricity market. The technologies supported by FITs include solar photovoltaic, hydro and wind projects currently up to 5MW.
	Under FITs, generators receive both a generation tariff and an export tariff. The generation tariff differs by technology type and scale, and is paid for every kilowatt hour of electricity generated. There is no cap on how much electricity can be generated. The generation tariffs for the above mentioned technologies start at:
	41.3p/kWh for solar PV up to and including 4kW in capacity;
	19.9p/kWh for micro-hydro up to and including 15kW in capacity; and
	34.5p/kWh for micro-wind up to and including 1.5kW in capacity.
	A full table of technologies and tariffs available under the scheme can be found at vvww.decc.gov.uk/fits.
	The tariffs for year 1 of the FITs (2010-11) were set to provide a 5-8 per cent return on investment (ROI), taking into account all potential benefit streams (generation tariffs, export tariff and bill savings).

Energy: Nuclear Industry

Lord Corbett of Castle Vale: To Ask Her Majesty's Government what progress has been made towards strengthening the Manufacturing Advisory Service to support British-based suppliers to the nuclear industry; and what public funds have been, or are budgeted to be, invested in it.

Baroness Wilcox: In July 2009, the then Government announced £8 million additional support to the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) as part of the Low Carbon Industrial Strategy for Low Carbon and Advanced Manufacturing. This was to assist British manufacturers to take advantage of opportunities in all the newly emerging low carbon sectors. In order to focus support for suppliers, or potential suppliers, to the nuclear industry, the Government asked MAS NW to act as lead centre for the nuclear sector and allocated £245,000 to ensure that MAS could provide specialist advice on civil nuclear. MAS does this in partnership with the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre.
	Following the MAS civil nuclear conference on 27 September, 110 manufacturers have requested a formal on-site review through MAS to help them assess the most appropriate action needed to become credible suppliers.

EU: Economy

Lord Myners: To Ask Her Majesty's Government how the new European supervisory authorities and the European Systematic Risk Board will be funded; and how the United Kingdom's contribution will be determined and paid.

Lord Sassoon: The legislation adopted by the European Parliament on 22 September 2010 establishes that the budget of the European supervisory authorities (ESAs) will be split between European Union (EU) funds and obligatory contributions from the national public authorities competent for the supervision of financial institutions. Initially, the budget of the ESAs will be financed 40 per cent from EU funds and 60 per cent through obligatory contributions from the national public authorities.
	The contribution from the national competent authorities shall be made in accordance with a formula based on the weighting of votes set out in Article 3(3) of the protocol on transitional provisions annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
	As regards the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB), the European Central Bank shall ensure a secretariat and thereby provide analytical, statistical, logistical and administrative support to the ESRB.

EU: Economy

Lord Myners: To Ask Her Majesty's Government how many members the European supervisory authorities and the European Systematic Risk Board will have; and who will represent the United Kingdom on each.

Lord Sassoon: The three European supervisory authorities (ESAs) will each have a board of supervisors, whose voting members will take or delegate the decisions of the authority. The board of supervisors in each body will be composed of the head of the national public authority competent for the supervision of the relevant financial institutions in each of the 27 member states.
	Therefore the three ESAs will each have a voting member from the UK, as well as the ability to bring up to three additional non-voting members. The voting UK member will be the head of the national public authority competent for supervision of the relevant sector (i.e. banking, insurance or securities). Where there is more than one competent authority responsible for supervision, the authorities shall agree on common representation. Where an item to be discussed falls within the competence of another national body, the UK member may bring along a non-voting representative that body.
	The European systemic risk board will have a general board on which the UK will hold two seats: a seat for the Governor of the Bank of England as a voting member; and a seat for a non-voting representative from the competent national supervisory authority. For this non-voting seat, the representative will rotate according to the item discussed, unless national authorities have agreed a common representative.

EU: Intelligence Services

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To Ask Her Majesty's Government what is the purpose of the European Union Joint Situation Centre; what are its powers; whether it has relationships with the United Kingdom security services; and what impact, if any, it has on the rights of United Kingdom citizens.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The EU situation centre provides analysis and assessments of situations both overseas and internally within the EU to support EU policy-making and crisis management. The situation centre benefits from exchanges of information with the UK and all other member states, including their diplomatic, intelligence and security services. Given that its role is limited to informing European policy and decision-making, it has no impact on the rights of UK citizens.

EU: Parliamentary Scrutiny

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To Ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will give details of all agreements made with the European Union since 12 May which give the Union new powers or extend existing powers; and what parliamentary scrutiny they have received.

Lord Howell of Guildford: There have been no such agreements.

EU: Parliamentary Sovereignty

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To Ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will establish a mechanism to monitor the activities of the institutions of the European Union, including the European Parliament, in relation to possible encroachment upon United Kingdom sovereignty.

Lord Howell of Guildford: As announced by my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on 6 October 2010, the forthcoming EU Bill will include a sovereignty clause to reaffirm once and for all the sovereignty of our Parliament. EU law has effect in this country solely because Parliament wills that it should through the 1972 European Communities Act. This sovereignty clause will therefore place on the statute book the truth that what a sovereign parliament can do, a sovereign parliament can also undo.
	This clause will not alter the existing order in relation to EU law, since EU law takes effect only through an Act of Parliament, either through the 1972 European Communities Act or subsequent regulations made under that Act, or through other primary legislation, but it will put the matter of parliamentary sovereignty beyond speculation.

EU: Taxation

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: To Ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the European Union's proposal to raise direct tax; and how much they estimate this may cost the British economy.

Lord Sassoon: There is no existing EU proposal to raise direct tax. Direct tax remains a matter for member states to determine at a national level. The UK continues to defend the principle of tax sovereignty.

EU-Israel Association Agreement

Baroness Tonge: To Ask Her Majesty's Government what recent discussions they have had with their European partners regarding the European Union Israel Association Agreement.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The UK has regular discussions with its EU partners on a number of issues related to the Middle East peace process including the European Union Israel Association Agreement.
	The EU has made clear, as set out in Foreign Affairs council conclusions in December 2009, that any progress on this agreement must be seen in the context of progress in the wider peace process.

European Parliament

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To Ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the framework agreement agreed between the European Commission and the European Parliament to give the Parliament additional decision-making powers.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The framework agreement updates an existing agreement which has governed the relations between the European Parliament and the European Commission since 1990, and which was last updated in 2005. The new text has been negotiated given the new mandates of European Parliament and Commission, updated to reflect the entry into force of the Lisbon treaty.
	Concerns have been expressed within the council that the framework agreement could potentially breach the requirement for the Commission and the European Parliament to act within the limits of the powers conferred upon them by the Lisbon treaty by both conferring powers on the European Parliament beyond the treaty and limiting the Commission's autonomy. The council is therefore proposing to issue an official declaration noting its intention to monitor the operation of the framework agreement and reserving its right to bring a legal challenge before the Court of Justice at a later date if it considers that either or both institution subsequently applies the framework agreement in a way contrary to the treaties. The UK has been in the forefront in pushing within the council to secure a robustly worded council declaration in response to the framework agreement, and the Government will continue to push this line as discussions on these texts progresses.

First Trust Bank

Lord Laird: To Ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Sassoon on 27 September (WA 399) concerning pension provision for former employers of the First Trust Bank, whether they will ensure that, in any sale of the Bank, pensions paid to those who live in the United Kingdom will be maintained at the current level.

Lord Freud: The pension arrangements of First Trust Bank, including the level of current pension provision, are a matter for the scheme trustees and the sponsoring employer. As I said in my previous reply on 27 September (WA 399) there is a statutory framework that applies to schemes based in the UK-this includes an obligation on sponsoring employers relating to the payment of pensions by the employer when the scheme is UK based. Pension schemes that are not based in the UK will be subject to the legislation in the country in question and its regulatory arrangements.

Government Departments: Salaries

Lord Newby: To Ask Her Majesty's Government what number and percentage of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills staff have received, or are due to receive, increments in pay in the year ended 5 April 2011; and what is the estimated percentage and money increase in the department's pay bill due solely to increments this year, disregarding promotions or general increases in pay scales.

Baroness Wilcox: No increments have been paid in BIS so far this year. The department has entered the two-year Civil Service wide pay freeze for staff outside the Senior Civil Service this year and is currently considering the position in relation to contractual progression payments alongside the £250 payments to lower earners.
	For the senior civil servants in BIS, consolidated base pay has been frozen in 2010-11.

Government Departments: Salaries

Lord Newby: To Ask Her Majesty's Government what number and percentage of Communities and Local Government staff have received or are due to receive increments in pay in the year ended 5 April 2011; and what is the estimated percentage and money increase in the department's pay bill due solely to increments this year, disregarding promotions or general increases in pay scales.

Baroness Hanham: The number of CLG staff who have received or will receive a pay increment in the year ending 5 April 2011 will be approximately 735. The pay bill will increase by 1.4 per cent due solely to increments.
	The coalition Government have introduced a two-year pay freeze with a caveat that departments with contractual pay progression systems, should continue to make these payments.

Government Departments: Salaries

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: To Ask Her Majesty's Government what number and percentage of staff at the Government Equalities Office have received or are due to receive increments in pay in the year ending 5 April 2011; and what is the estimated percentage and money increase in the department's pay bill due solely to increments this year, disregarding promotions or general increases in pay scales.

Baroness Verma: Full information on the question will be available once the Government Equalities Office has finalised its 2010-11 pay remit later this year. I will then write to the noble Lord with the information requested.

Government Departments: Salaries

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: To Ask Her Majesty's Government what number and percentage of Northern Ireland Office staff have received or are due to receive increments in pay in the year ending 5 April 2011; and what is the estimated percentage and money increase in the department's pay bill due solely to increments this year, disregarding promotions or general increases in pay scales.

Lord Shutt of Greetland: Following the devolution of policing and justice powers on 12 April 2010, arrangements are still to be finalised for transition of staff in the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) to a sponsor department. It is therefore not possible to provide this information at this time. I will write to the noble Lord once this information becomes available.

Government Departments: Salaries

Lord Newby: To Ask Her Majesty's Government what is the estimated net saving in the pay bill of Communities and Local Government for each of the next four years if no bonuses are paid and all salaries and increments are frozen.

Baroness Hanham: The estimated net saving in the pay bill of Communities and Local Government for each of the next four years, if all salaries and increments are frozen, is shown in the table below:
	
		
			 Year Approximate Saving  in Salaries Approximate Saving in Non-Consolidated Performance Awards 
			 2010-11 1,324,835 1,132,308 
			 2011-12 851,656 354,986 
			 2012-13 983,197 358,191 
			 2013-14 870,955 361,891 
		
	
	The coalition Government have introduced a two-year pay freeze with a caveat that departments with contractual pay progression systems should continue to make these payments.
	The figures in the table cover the pay settlement period for the CLG main department of August to July each year and include all increases in base pay for staff below the Senior Civil Service. Actual net savings from a freeze on salaries and increments will reduce broadly in proportion to the level of staff reductions required once the outcome of the Comprehensive Spending Review is announced.
	The Senior Civil Service has not been included in the salary section of the above table as there are no automatic progression points in the Senior Civil Service pay structure. The bonus amounts for the Senior Civil Service have only been included in the year 2010-11 as the percentage of the pay bill set aside for performance-related awards for the SCS is not yet known.

Government Departments: Websites

Lord Newby: To Ask Her Majesty's Government how many websites are operated by, or on behalf of, agencies of the Department for Education; and what is (a) the cost of maintaining those websites, (b) the number of hits each website received, and (c) the number of websites closed by the department, in each of the last three years for which information is available.

Lord Hill of Oareford: Full year statistics for the websites maintained by each of the department's arm's-length bodies (ALB) are available only for 2008-09 and 2009-10 and are outlined in the table below:
	
		
			 ALB Number of websites Number of visits (2008-09) Costs (2008-09) Number of visits (2009-10) Costs (2009-10) Number of websites closed 
			 Cafcass 1 178,189 £26,911 169,037 £21,421 0 
			 Children's Commissioner 1 45,000 £74,000 45,000 £42,000 0 
			 CWDC 1 689,088 £75,290 1,047,375 £126,602 0 
			 National College 1 994,506 £235,952 2,267,000 £2370002 0 
			 PfS 1 205,263 £93,729 269,420 £78,865 2 
			 QCDA 1 6,110,000 £307,642 5,846,3701 £880,651 1 
			 Schools Food Trust 4 1,745,293 £486,701 880,000 £324,786 0 
			 TDA 1 5,257,150 £1,541,848 6,427,821 £3,689,596 0 
		
	
	Notes:
	1 Data for April 2008 are not available.
	2 The costs for 2009-10 do not include the costs associated with enhancements to the National College's website that formed part of the Improving the Customer Experience programme.
	3 The costs for 2009-10 are elevated due to the transitional phase during the move from the website being facilitated in house by temporary contractors to Redweb, the TDA's digital services partner. This transition took place during the second quarter of the financial year. The partnership with Redweb and the launch of the refreshed website, with content management system, has seen a reduction in the running costs saving approximately 30,000 per month.
	Statistical information is not available for Becta which is in the process of closing down. Figures have not been included for the YPLA as this ALB was only formed in 2010. In line with the requirements of the UK Transformational Government Policy, the department and its ALBs are working to rationalise the number of websites by March 2011.

Government Ministerial Duties

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock: To Ask Her Majesty's Government what is the full range of Ministerial responsibilities of the Minister without Portfolio.

Baroness Warsi: I refer the noble Lord to the list of ministerial responsibilities published by the Cabinet Office in July 2010.

Government: Ministerial Salaries

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock: To Ask Her Majesty's Government what is the annual salary paid to the Minister without Portfolio; and from which departmental budget it is paid.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The Minister without Portfolio (Minister of State) is unpaid. This information is available in the House Library and UK Parliament website under the section entitled Her Majesty's Government.

Government: Ministerial Visits

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock: To Ask Her Majesty's Government what official engagements have been carried out by the Minister without Portfolio since her appointment.

Baroness Warsi: Since her appointment, the Minister without Portfolio has carried out a range of official engagements.

Guantanamo Bay

Lord Judd: To Ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government of the United States on the future of Guantanamo Bay and its implications for the credibility of the United States' common commitment to law, human rights and justice.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The UK has long called for the closure of Guantanamo Bay. President Obama has been clear that he wants to see the Guantanamo Bay detention facility closed and we continue to support the US in this goal. The UK has already made a significant contribution to reducing the number of detainees in Guantanamo Bay by taking back 14 individuals. We will continue to share our experiences in receiving former detainees with our European partners as they think about what steps they can make to help the closure of the facility.
	The noble Lord may also be aware that my right honourable friend the Prime Minister reiterated our request for the release and return of Shaker Aamer, the last former legal resident detained at Guantanamo Bay. The Government remain committed to seeking his return, and we continue to engage with the US Government on his case.
	The US shares our belief that a strong commitment to law, human rights, justice and democracy is integral to the pursuit of our strategic objectives, not least our shared security. Bilaterally, we continue to work alongside the US around the world to promote human rights. Our complementary strengths, networks and alliances play an important role in this regard.

Gulf War Illnesses

Lord Morris of Manchester: To Ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the 2010 report from the United States Department of Veterans' Gulf War Illnesses Task Force to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and its relevance to the undiagnosed illnesses of British veterans of the 1990-91 Gulf War; and whether there is any action they are considering as a result.

Lord Astor of Hever: We have noted the publication of the Final 2010 Report of the US Department of Veterans Affairs Gulf War Illnesses Task Force to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the recent publication of the Veterans Affairs Final Regulation on "Presumptive" Illnesses for Gulf War and Afghanistan, Iraq Veterans. These publications relate to US policy and Veterans Affairs (VA) services to 1990-91 Gulf, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans so their relevance to the UK needs to be seen in that context, and there are no direct implications for the ill-health reported by UK Gulf veterans or on our own UK services. The task force report covers research into Gulf veterans' illnesses which is always of interest to the Ministry of Defence. We note the VA comment relating to the presumptive regulations that "at this time, VA does not believe there is a single Gulf War Illness or Syndrome". This is consistent with the current UK position.

Health: Dementia

Baroness Cumberlege: To Ask Her Majesty's Government what guidance there is for clinicians on how to manage the behavioural symptoms of dementia.

Earl Howe: A joint guideline was issued by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and the Social Care Institute for Excellence in 2006 on the treatment and care of people with dementia in health and social care. The guideline covers the identification, treatment and care of people with dementia, including the management of behavioural symptoms. The NICE quality standards for dementia published in 2010 also advises that people with dementia who develop behaviour that challenges should be offered an assessment at an early opportunity to establish generating and aggravating factors, and that interventions to improve such behaviour or distress should be recorded in their care plan.

Human Rights

Lord Hylton: To Ask Her Majesty's Government what procedures exist to enable officials of the European Court of Human Rights to take part in human rights dialogues between the United Kingdom and other Council of Europe member states.

Lord Howell of Guildford: There are no such procedures for bilateral discussions. Any involvement of Court officials would be by mutual agreement.
	Representatives of the Court participate, without voting rights, in multilateral discussions at the Council of Europe's Steering Committee for Human Rights (CDDH).

Independent Networks Co-operative Association

Lord Laird: To Ask Her Majesty's Government who monitors the activities of the Content Industries Directorate at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to ensure that the key performance indicators laid down by that department are complied with before any payments are paid to the Independent Networks Co-operative Association; and what steps will they take to recover monies paid in the cases of failures to comply with those stipulated key performance indicators.

Baroness Wilcox: The grant awarded to the Independent Networks Co-operative Association is subject to the usual financial controls and audit procedures of the department. The grant offer letter contains provision for the Secretary of State to reclaim funds already paid if certain circumstances arise, but at present the Government have no plans to do so.

India: Orissa

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To Ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will make representations to the Government of India to ensure that the Rt Rev. Raphael Cheenath and Dr John Dyal are granted a fair trial in accordance with international human rights law.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The right reverend Raphael Cheenath and Dr John Dyal are not on trial nor have any charges been made against them in relation to the 2008 communal violence in Orissa.
	The UK and EU have welcomed the Indian Government's efforts to ensure the restoration of law and order in Orissa and offers of compensation and assistance to the victims of the 2008 communal violence. We will continue to pursue with the appropriate Indian authorities any human rights concerns and the need to bring to justice those responsible for perpetrating the violence, and to ensure that those left homeless are resettled.

Insolvency

Lord Myners: To Ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the desirability of a common cross-border insolvency regime for systemically important banks; and what steps, if any, they have taken to achieve this.

Lord Sassoon: The Government are strongly committed to work at the international level on ensuring that all countries have credible resolution tools and powers in place to deal with bank failure and address the risks associated with systemically important financial institutions. The G20 has tasked the Financial Stability Board (FSB), in conjunction with the Basel Committee, to develop detailed policy recommendations by the time of the Seoul summit. The Government await the recommendations from the FSB, but have made clear that, as part of this work, all countries should aim to have resolution regimes which make it possible to resolve all large complex banks without taxpayer support.
	At the European level, the European Commission has initiated work to develop a crisis management framework and is exploring reform of insolvency law, alongside preventive, early intervention and bank resolution measures. A communication is expected shortly and will set out further details of the Commission's plans in this area. The Government will play an active role in proposing appropriate changes to the draft framework.

International Monetary Fund

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To Ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have plans to reduce the United Kingdom's representation on the International Monetary Fund; and, if so, what assessment they have made of the impact this would have on United Kingdom interests.

Lord Sassoon: The Government fully support reform of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In particular, for the IMF to be legitimate in the eyes of all its members, it must be representative of the modern global economy. This means giving a greater say to dynamic emerging markets and developing countries. As a strong global economic power and in light of the UK's significant financial contributions to the IMF, we fully expect the UK to retain a strong voice at the IMF.

Israel

Baroness Tonge: To Ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the Government of Israel regarding five cases between May and July 2010 of children shot in the legs whilst collecting building gravel in Gaza.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The UK is extremely concerned by reports of such incidents. We have called on the Government of Israel to adhere to international and human rights law and will continue to do so.

Israel

Baroness Tonge: To Ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of Israel's compliance with the International Atomic Energy Agency and its transparency regarding its nuclear activities.

Lord Howell of Guildford: Israel has a safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which applies safeguards to Israel's nuclear research reactor. The IAEA's inspection and verification activities are limited to material, equipment and facilities specified in their safeguards undertaking. At the end of 2009, the IAEA Secretariat concluded that nuclear material, facilities or other items to which safeguards were applied in Israel remained in peaceful activities. The UK accepts the IAEA's conclusions.
	We continue to call on Israel to join the non-proliferation treaty as a non-nuclear-weapon state, and to place all its nuclear materials and facilities under a comprehensive safeguards agreement with the IAEA.

Israel and Palestine

Baroness Tonge: To Ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the Government of Israel regarding the alleged torture and abuse of Palestinian children held in detention by Israel.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The UK is concerned by reports of alleged torture and abuse of Palestinian children held in detention by Israel. We have called on the Israeli Government to take immediate action to ensure all cases are reviewed by a court in accordance with fair procedures, and that human rights and international law is upheld.

Israel and Palestine

Baroness Tonge: To Ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the alleged use of Palestinian children as human shields by the Israeli military; and what representations they have made to the government of Israel on this matter.

Lord Howell of Guildford: We condemn the use of civilians as human shields. This is strictly forbidden under Israeli law, in line with the Fourth Geneva Convention's proscription of the procedure.
	We can confirm that two Israeli soldiers have been convicted of using a Palestinian boy as a human shield during Operation Cast Lead and are awaiting sentencing.
	Such incidents highlight the need for Israel's investigations into allegations in the Goldstone report and those made by credible non-governmental organisations to be transparent, independent and credible. We continue to make this clear.

Kyrgyzstan

Viscount Waverley: To Ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the elections in Kyrgyzstan were free and fair, and whether the result represents the will of the people.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The Government have welcomed the positive initial assessment of observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the European Parliament. This noted that the election provided voters with a genuine choice, that political parties were able to campaign freely and that, overall, the elections constituted a further consolidation of the democratic process. The assessment also highlighted some areas of the electoral framework that need to be improved. We will work with international partners to encourage progress in that respect and on Kyrgyzstan's broader reform agenda.

Kyrgyzstan

Viscount Waverley: To Ask Her Majesty's Government what will be their priorities when making representations to the new Government in Kyrgyzstan.

Lord Howell of Guildford: It is particularly important that a new Government continue to pursue the political process to build democratic institutions in Kyrgyzstan. As my honourable friend the Minister for Europe said in a statement on 12 October, this represents the best chance to ensure peace, institutional stability, open dialogue, rule of law and democracy for all the citizens of Kyrgyzstan. It is also important to allow all sides to come to terms with tragic events of June. In this respect we welcome the fact that terms of reference have now been agreed for an international inquiry to be headed by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe's Parliamentary Assembly's Special Representative for Central Asia, Kimmo Kiljunen. We and our EU partners stand ready to assist Kyrgyzstan in meeting the important challenges ahead.

Local Government Improvement and Development Agency

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer: To Ask Her Majesty's Government how many people are directly employed by the Local Government Improvement and Development Agency; how much it spent in the last five years on consultancy fees; and how many of those consultants were retired or former councillors.

Baroness Hanham: The Department does not hold this information. Local Government Improvement and Development (formerly the Improvement and Development Agency) is part of the Local Government Group, led by the Local Government Association.

Local Government: Economic Development

Lord Liddle: To Ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have for innovation centres and business and science parks and their funding.

Baroness Wilcox: Innovation centres and business and science parks currently receive funding from a range of sources including the private sector, local authorities, and regional development agencies.
	The coalition agreement stated that the Government will support the creation of local enterprise partnerships (LEPs), which will be joint local authority-business bodies established to replace the RDAs and to promote local economic development. The Government are currently considering the initial outline proposals received from prospective partnerships, many of which have indicated their intention to build on existing innovation strengths and assets including innovation centres and science parks located in their areas. Further details on the establishment of the LEPs and the transfer of RDA functions, including investment in innovation infrastructure, will be provided in the sub-national growth White Paper due for publication after the forthcoming spending review.
	Science parks and innovation centres will also be able to apply for support from the £150 million loan facility announced by the European Investment Bank on 11 October. This facility is specifically targeted at supporting the UK knowledge economy, and eligible projects include higher and further education campus redevelopments, and relocation and construction of specialist science park and start-up company incubator facilities.
	In addition, the Government are also looking closely at proposals to establish a network of technology and innovation centres in the UK that will complement existing institutions and will enable industry to exploit new and emerging platform technologies. Further development of these proposals is subject to the outcome of the spending review.

National Coal Board: Compensation

Lord Touhig: To Ask Her Majesty's Government how many miners employed by the National Coal Board were denied compensation under the Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease scheme on the ground that they were surface workers.

Lord Marland: To date, just under 10,000 claims have been removed from the British Coal Respiratory Disease Litigation Claims Handling Agreement as they related to men that had not been employed underground by British Coal.

National Coal Board: Compensation

Lord Touhig: To Ask Her Majesty's Government how many miners employed by the National Coal Board received compensation under the Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease scheme even though they never worked underground and were employed on the surface.

Lord Marland: The British Coal Respiratory Disease Litigation Claims Handling Agreement was originally established to compensate underground workers. It has subsequently been amended to include some men with mixed underground and surface employment. Men with pure surface employment have never been eligible to receive compensation under the terms of the claims handling agreement and therefore (save for any instances of fraud or administrative error) no compensation payments should have been paid by the department under the terms of that agreement to any such men.

Niqabs

Lord Sheikh: To Ask Her Majesty's Government what is their response to proposals for a ban on the niqab in the United Kingdom.

Baroness Hanham: The Government would oppose a change in the law as being out of keeping with our nation's long-standing approach to religious tolerance. A ban on what citizens can wear in the street would be an attack on the British rights and values of freedom of speech, freedom to associate and freedom of worship.

Northern Ireland: Human Rights Commission

Lord Laird: To Ask Her Majesty's Government whether all funding paid to the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission has been spent in pursuit of the legal objectives set out for the commission.

Lord Shutt of Greetland: The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission's annual accounts are audited each year by the National Audit Office and have all been certified to date by the Comptroller and Auditor General as in accordance with the Northern Ireland Act 1998. A copy of the commission's annual report and accounts is placed in the Library of this House each year. The commission's 2009-10 report and accounts will be published in due course.

Northern Ireland: Human Rights Commission

Lord Laird: To Ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will place in the Library of the House all correspondence they have had with the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission since 8 July.

Lord Shutt of Greetland: All ministerial and official letters between the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) and the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) since 8 July 2010 will be placed in the Library of the House.
	These are:
	letter dated 12 July 2010 from NIO official to head of corporate services;letter dated 5 August 2010 from chief commissioner to Secretary of State for Northern Ireland;letter dated 23 August 2010 from chief commissioner to NIO official;letter dated 26 August 2010 from the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to the chief commissioner; andletter from NIO dated 10 September 2010 to chief commissioner.

Pensions

Lord Laird: To Ask Her Majesty's Government which new participating employers have enrolled in the Universities Superannuation Scheme in the past three years; what are the criteria governing admissions for non-public sector bodies; and what are the present rates of employer and employee contributions payable to the scheme.

Baroness Wilcox: This is a matter for the Universities Superannuation Scheme Limited. The Government have no involvement.

Pensions

Lord Mawhinney: To Ask Her Majesty's Government what are the criteria used to determine a person's eligibility to receive (a) a single person's state pension, and (b) a married couple's state pension.

Lord Freud: There are no singles or couples rates as such. The basic state pension is paid as an individual benefit. However, a person whose own basic state pension entitlement is less than £58.50 (April 2010 rates) may receive a state pension based on their spouse's or civil partner's national insurance contribution record. The maximum amount they can receive in combination with any basic state pension of their own is £58.50 per week. To qualify, both they and their spouse or civil partner must have reached state pension age. For a married man or a civil partner, their wife or civil partner must have been born on or after 6 April 1950.
	The maximum rate of basic state pension made up of a person's own national insurance contributions record (£97.65 from April 2010) is commonly referred to as the "singles' rate". A combination of this rate and state pension based on a husband's, wife's or civil partner's national insurance contributions record is commonly referred to as the "couples' rate".
	State pension is paid to people who claim it after reaching state pension age and who fully or partially meet the contribution conditions. A person can get a basic state pension by building up enough qualifying years before state pension age. A qualifying year is a tax year in which a person has sufficient earnings upon which they have paid, are treated as having paid or have been credited with, national insurance contributions.
	For those reaching state pension age from 6 April 2010, the number of qualifying years needed for a full basic state pension is 30.
	One qualifying year of paid or credited national insurance contributions will give entitlement to some basic state pension. People who have fewer than 30 qualifying years will get one-thirtieth of the full basic state pension for each qualifying year they have. Both paid and credited national insurance contributions will count equally towards basic state pension entitlement.

Police: Horses

Lord Corbett of Castle Vale: To Ask Her Majesty's Government what was the annual cost of (a) recruiting, (b) training, (c) equipping, and (d) maintaining, horses for use by the Mounted Branch of the Metropolitan Police in each of the past three years for which figures are available.
	To Ask Her Majesty's Government what is the cost of (a) selecting, (b) training, (c) equipping, and (d) paying, officers of the Mounted Branch of the Metropolitan Police in each of the past three years for which figures are available.
	To Ask Her Majesty's Government, in the past three years for which figures are available, what was the number of horses, police officers and civilian personnel in the Mounted Branch of the Metropolitan Police; and what was the total annual cost of the branch.

Baroness Neville-Jones: The information requested is not collated or held by the Home Office, and is a matter for the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service and its police authority.

Police: Pursuits

Lord Condon: To Ask Her Majesty's Government when the code of practice on the management of police pursuits will be issued to police forces, following the public consultation conducted by the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA).

Baroness Neville-Jones: Ministers are considering the response to the public consultation on this issue.

Police: Restraint

Lord Ouseley: To Ask Her Majesty's Government why they have not set up an inquiry into the fatal restraint of Olaseni Lewis by police called to the Bethlem Royal Hospital in Beckenham, Kent, on 31 August.

Baroness Neville-Jones: The circumstances surrounding the death of Olaseni Lewis are currently being investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). We await the conclusion of this investigation.

Police: Restraint

Lord Ouseley: To Ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to set up an inquiry into the fatal restraint of Colin Holt from Gillingham, Kent, on 31 August.

Baroness Neville-Jones: The circumstances surrounding the death of Colin Holt are currently being independently investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). We await the conclusion of this investigation.

Pollinator Services

Lord Moynihan: To Ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to fund data research into co-ordinated monitoring programmes for pollinator groups.

Lord Henley: Survey and monitoring data collected by members of the Bees, Wasps and Ants Recording Society are collated by a volunteer recorder and the results have been published by the Biological Records Centre as provisional atlases of bees, wasps and ants. The verified raw data behind the atlases are available via the National Biodiversity Network gateway website.
	In addition, Defra has joined together with four other major researchers to launch an insect pollinator initiative which will consider the wider problems facing pollinators. Up to £10 million will be available under the initiative. Defra is providing £2.5 million of this.
	Nine projects have been selected for funding based on their scientific quality, impact and strategic relevance and these were announced on 22 June. Further details are available on the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council website.

Pollinator Services

Lord Moynihan: To Ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are planning to co-ordinate a one-stop shop Government agency to maintain pollinator services in the United Kingdom.

Lord Henley: The Government currently have no plan to co-ordinate a one-stop shop for this purpose.

Pollinator Services

Lord Moynihan: To Ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are participating in any national, European or international pollinator initiatives under the aegis of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Lord Henley: Defra is participating in a number of pollinator initiatives but none under the aegis of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Prisoners: Voting

Lord Tebbit: To Ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord McNally on 30 June (WA 289) and 22 July (WA 251), whether they will take into account the views of the public when reaching their conclusions concerning the proposed grant of votes to prisoners.

Lord McNally: The Government have been actively considering the issue over the summer and this work is continuing.

Prisons: Corruption

Lord Ramsbotham: To Ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to eliminate staff corruption in prisons.

Lord McNally: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) has made a robust commitment towards detecting, removing and preventing all forms of corruption in partnership with the police.
	A dedicated corruption prevention unit (CPU) works with regional corruption prevention managers, the front line and partner agencies to raise staff awareness, develop an understanding of the extent and nature of staff corruption in prisons and related HQ functions and where practicable, to prosecute identified instances of corrupt behaviour. Each prison has an identified local corruption prevention manager with responsibility for raising awareness of the risks from corruption, helping staff in reporting and taking forward action in including working with the police in support of prosecution.
	A joint memorandum of understanding was agreed between ACPO and NOMS in October 2008 and gives the primacy for investigating and prosecuting individual cases of staff corruption to the police. NOMS also uses internal disciplinary proceedings to take action, up to and including dismissal, of any member of staff who is found to be involved in corrupt activities where there is insufficient evidence to support police prosecution.

Quangos

Lord Greaves: To Ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Taylor of Holbeach on 12 July (WA 1101), which other central government quangos they have announced their intention to abolish; and how much will be saved in each case.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: Please refer to the Written Ministerial Statement issued by right honourable Francis Maude on 14 October (Official Report, col. 26WS).

Regional Development Agencies

Lord Liddle: To Ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Wilcox on 27 September (WA 553), whether they will make a full economic assessment of their decision to abolish the regional development agencies.

Baroness Wilcox: As part of the preparation for the Public Bodies Bill announced in the gracious Speech given by Her Majesty the Queen to Parliament on 25 May 2010, the Government will be publishing an impact assessment for the Bill as a whole. Subject to parliamentary approval of the Public Bodies Bill and the laying of any orders to abolish the eight regional development agencies outside London and subject to the approval of the Localism Bill and laying of an order to abolish the London Development Agency, the Government will publish a further impact assessment looking at the full impact of the abolition of the regional development agencies and the formation of new landscape for economic development in England.

Royal Mail

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To Ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have for the Royal Mail.

Baroness Wilcox: The Government are committed to securing the long-term future of the Royal Mail and to preserving the universal postal service for everyone in the UK. To do that, the Government introduced the Postal Services Bill to the House of Commons on 13 October. At the same time the Government published a policy statement which sets out our plans in detail-Delivering for the Future-A Universal Mail Service and Community Post Offices in the Digital Age.
	Copies of the statement were laid in the House Libraries and it can also be viewed on the Department for Business, Innovation and Skill's website at http:www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/business-sectors/docs/d/10-1206-delivering-universal-mail-service-community-post-offices.pdf.

Schools: Academies

Lord Willis of Knaresborough: To Ask Her Majesty's Government how many officials in the Department for Education are employed to promote schools moving to Academy status; and what are their job descriptions.

Lord Hill of Oareford: It is not possible to answer this question precisely because a significant number of civil servants in the department make a contribution to the promotion and development of academy schools as part of their wider role. There are currently 123 civil servants in the Department for Education engaged directly in work on policy development and programme delivery related to academy schools.

Schools: Free Schools

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To Ask Her Majesty's Government how many applications to form free schools have been rejected.

Lord Hill of Oareford: Sixteen free school applications have been approved to progress to the business case and plan stage. None has yet been rejected.

Serious Fraud Office

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: To Ask Her Majesty's Government whether there have been instances of staff at the Serious Fraud Office experiencing allergic reactions and burns from material that has been stored over long periods of time, prior to this happening in September 2010; whether other departments or agencies have experienced similar problems; and whether any standard procedure for dealing with this risk was prepared and made available to the Serious Fraud Office, government departments and agencies; and, if so, when.

Lord Wallace of Tankerness: Prior to September 2010 there had been no incidents of allergic reactions or burns from material that has been stored over long periods of time at the Serious Fraud Office. There have been to date four incidents where staff working with case papers have experienced skin irritation. These have all been treated with off-the-shelf anti-histamines and the symptoms then subsided.
	The Serious Fraud Office works proactively to minimise health and safety risks and manage identified risks whilst ensuring the timely progression of its casework. As part of this approach, the Serious Fraud Office takes day to day precautionary measures to provide its staff with the option to use personal protective equipment including gloves, aprons and masks when dealing with material that has been in storage for a long period of time.
	As a result of these minor incidents the SFO further enhanced its existing process by contacting the National Archive for guidance on dealing with documents that have been in storage for long periods of time. That advice has been implemented and included only handling the material in one designated area and sealing material in containers when not in use. In addition, the SFO has also sought guidance from a leading pest control company which advised that the documentation in question does not contain any insect infestation.
	There is no specific guidance issued to government departments on the risks associated with handling such old material, and although the Health and Safety Executive does collate reported information about such incidents it is not able to break this information down by organisation, government or otherwise.

Sir Philip Green

Lord Myners: To Ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Verma on 28 September (HL1964), whether Sir Philip Green or his advisers have been given access to details of any aspect of their lease agreements in respect of properties occupied by the Government and their agencies.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The remit of Sir Philip's review includes an assessment of whether government leases and contracts entered into since 2007 offer value for money. As part of this assessment, Sir Philip Green and his advisers have had access to some limited information about government leases in order to make an initial assessment of value for money.

Sir Philip Green

Lord Myners: To Ask Her Majesty's Government whether Sir Philip Green will be permitted to (a) publish, or (b) comment upon, the result or a summary thereof of his review into their expenditure.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: Sir Philip Green's key findings and recommendations were published on Monday 11 October 2010, on the Cabinet Office website and a copy has been placed in Library of the House. As an independent reviewer, Sir Philip is of course able to comment on his review.

Sir Philip Green

Lord Myners: To Ask Her Majesty's Government which Secretaries of State, Ministers and Senior Civil Servants Sir Philip Green and Mr Ian Grabiner met, and when, in the six weeks before the announcement that Sir Philip would be carrying out a review into government expenditure; and which Secretaries of State, Ministers and Civil Servants they and their officials have met since the announcement of the review, and when.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: I refer the noble Lord to my Answer of 11 October (Official Report, col. WA55).

Swimming Teachers' Association

Lord Corbett of Castle Vale: To Ask Her Majesty's Government whether the charity Swimming Teachers' Association will remain a QCA-accredited awarding body for swimming teaching qualifications.

Lord Shutt of Greetland: The Swimming Teachers' Association is now known as the Safety Training Awards (STA) following a formal name change.
	The STA has accreditation from Ofqual for its swimming qualifications, on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) until 31 December 2010.
	The STA can voluntarily submit a qualifications credit framework (QCF) proposal to ensure ongoing accreditation of its swimming qualifications before 31 December 2010, as it has already done with a number of other qualifications it provides.

Taxation

Lord Ashcroft: To Ask Her Majesty's Government whether they expect citizens to organise their tax affairs in order to maximise tax payable.

Lord Sassoon: The Government expect citizens to pay tax that is due by law. The Government will take action against tax avoidance schemes that claim to produce results completely at odds with the intentions of Parliament. That is why the Government support the Code of Conduct on Taxation for banks and is asking them to adopt it by the end of November 2010.

Third Parties (Rights Against Insurers) Act 2010

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To Ask Her Majesty's Government when they intend to bring into force the provisions of the Third Parties (Rights Against Insurers) Act 2010.

Lord McNally: We are currently considering when to commence this Act. I will write to the noble Lord when we have made a decision and will place a copy of my letter in the Libraries of the House.

Tourism

Lord Inglewood: To Ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will take into account the impact on areas like Cumbria of the proposal to replace the current day visitors indicator with an indicator based on foreign visitor rights as proposed for the Environmental, Protective, and Cultural Services Relative Needs Formula.

Baroness Hanham: The consultation on local government finance formula grant distribution closed on 6 October 2010. Ministers will take into account all the representations that have been received when making decisions about changes to the formula grant distribution system ahead of the 2011-12 settlement. This will include the representation received from Cumbria County Council.

Turkey

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To Ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have conducted a cost benefit analysis of the consequences of Turkish membership of the European Union.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The Department for Business, Innovation, and Skills (BIS), led cross-Whitehall work on an assessment "The Economic Consequences of Turkey joining the EU", for the House of Commons Business and Enterprise Committee in December 2007. The assessment concluded:
	"Apart from the political benefits of improved peace, stability and security, the Government believes that Turkish EU accession will bring potentially significant benefits and a range of economic impacts stemming from increased trade and foreign direct investment, improved institutions in Turkey, free movement of labour, dynamic gains and other political impacts such as energy security and the promotion of peace and stability in the region".
	The assessment was presented to the House of Commons Business and Enterprise Committee (BEC) as evidence for its report published on 23 June 2008 Keeping the door open: Turkey and EU Accession, which made a detailed study of the political and economic case for Turkish EU accession. The BEC's report concluded "we believe that Turkish accession is ultimately politically and economically right for the UK, and for Europe".
	The European Commission also conducted a detailed impact assessment on Turkey's prospective membership of the EU in 2004.

Vietnam

The Archbishop of York: To Ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they are making to the Government of Vietnam to promote religious freedom and protect individuals' rights to freedom of belief, in light of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's 2009 Annual Report on Human Rights which referred to religious freedom in Vietnam as "patchy".

Lord Howell of Guildford: The UK, with our EU partners, regularly raises human rights issues with the Vietnamese authorities. My right honourable friend the Deputy Prime Minister raised human rights issues when he met Vietnamese Prime Minister Dung at the Asia Europe Meeting Summit, 4 and 5 October, in Brussels. My right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary also raised human rights concerns when he met Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Khiem on 8 September in London. We take every opportunity to discuss religious freedom with the Vietnamese authorities, including through the biannual EU-Vietnam Human Rights Dialogue. The most recent dialogue was held in Hanoi on 25 June 2010. The next dialogue will be held in December 2010.